satellite radio

SiriusXM satellite radio has a number of hardware options to allow you to get satellite radio into your car or home. The company has announced its latest portable satellite radio receiver and several accessories to go along with it. The SiriusXM Onyx Plus Dock and Play Radio is now available to purchase.

It looks like SiriusXM is ready to start providing its content in a way people will be more receptive to, today announcing the launch of SiriusXM On Demand. The company says that over 200 shows and 2,000 hours of content will be available from its network on the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. Better yet, the app will be available at no extra cost to existing SiriusXM subscribers, so if you happen to miss your favourite show while on the road, you can fire up the app and listen later without worrying about the costs.

There are a lot of carmakers that have struck partnerships with SiriusXM to give free service for a limited time to customers who buy a new car. But if you're more in the market for a used car, such a perk has generally not been available to you. Until now, that is. Penske, one of the largest pre-owned car retail franchises, is giving three free months of SiriusXM service to used car buyers.

Satellite radio is still around, and enjoyed by thousands. For Sirius XM, introducing new hardware isn't something worth focusing on all that much, but that's not stopping them from introducing a brand new piece of tech for all of those out there who may not have a vehicle featuring satellite radio pre-installed. The company labels it as a quick, easy, and simplistic method to get your ears focused on some satellite radio. All you need is an FM radio, cigarette adapter, and the new XM Snap! (which was recently seen at the FCC) and you'll be good to go.

A new Sirius XM device, the XM Snap, has shown up at the FCC. According to the test report, the XM Snap is a digital satellite receiver for in-vehicle use, complete with "a transmitter operating in the 88 - 108 MHz FM band. The XM Snap supplies the incoming satellite digital audio signal to the vehicle's radio via wired connection (Audio cable, FM Direct, or Cassette Adapter) or wireless FM transmission (Power Connect or FEA)."

Sirius XM have announced their first radio dock for Apple's iPhone and iPod touch, the XM SkyDock taking advantage of OS 3.0's third-party peripheral integration to add a satellite radio tuner to the handheld and have it controlled by the new companion app. The dock slots into a car's power point, supporting the PMP with a flexible arm and custom cradle, and not only allows for listening to Sirius XM radio but for tagging tracks that you later want to buy on iTunes.

The rumor of Sirius XM price increases has been confirmed, with customer services representatives apparently informing users that as of March 11th 2009 there will be an increase of $2 for additional subscriptions, while the online internet radio service will now cost $2.99. For that $2.99 all internet radio users will have access to the 128k stream, which previously was the "premium" feed.

All of you long time Sirius XM satellite radio subscribers may have something more to worry about starting in spring. According to “ken.muise” at the Digital Radio Central forums you may have more expensive fees as well as some changes to the service they provide by springtime.

The person who is starting this rumor claims to be an employee of the Sirius XM Activations Department, if anyone would know these new policy changes it would be the activation department. The first rumor outlines that each additional radio added will costs $8.99, which is a $2 increase from standard pricing today. The second string of bad news is that online streaming will now cost you $2.99 for most packages rather than being entirely free. This service can also range up to $8.99 a month for the Mostly Music and family Pack.

XM's upcoming portable digital satellite radio receiver, the XMp3, has turned up on Best Buy, complete with pricing and more details about the PMP's functionality. Now confirmed as being made by Pioneer, the XMp3 will have access to up to 170 channels of XM satellite radio for $12.95 a month, together with MP3 and WMA playback. Most interesting, however, is the XMp3's ability to record up to five different channels simultaneously.

Chrysler has announced that its 2009 model-year cars will be have a wireless communication option called uconnect. Made up of Bluetooth hands-free, hard-drive based media, Sirius TV & Radio, GPS and, most interestingly, the ability to turn your car into a WiFi hotspot, uconnect will be available on most Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep vehicles starting in August.